What Are You Waiting For?

How long have you been dreaming of going on safari? 2019 could be the year you finally cross your adventure of a lifetime off your bucket list.

Many of the parks under our management - with an abundance of wildlife and a range of exquisite accommodations – are becoming favorites of leading travel writers and topping best destinations lists, featuring in The New York Times, Wall Street Journal, Condé Nast Traveler, CNN, Vanity Fair, Men's Journal, theRobb Report, among others. But, perhaps more importantly, when you visit an African Parks managed protected area, you are helping to secure a future for wild Africa – for both people and wildlife. Proceeds from tourism revenue are invested back into these parks to help with park management as well as to support local communities who live in and around these areas, making sure that real benefits are derived for the people who need them the most.

To kick off 2019, we've featured just three African Parks destinations. But you can also visit us in other countries with a host of parks and lodging options in Malawi, Benin, Congo, and Mozambique – where you can choose between seeing the Big Five, walking safaris, exploring a birder’s paradise, or going in search of dugongs in the Indian Ocean.

Akagera National Park is Central Africa’s largest protected wetland and the last remaining refuge for savannah-adapted species in Rwanda. The Financial Times, Bloomberg News, Forbes, Le Monde, Condé Nast Traveler, and South China Morning Post have each hailed its story of revival. Now home to the Big Five, we have reintroduced lions and rhinos to join thriving populations of leopards, elephants, buffalos and a host of other species. Accommodations include campsites, the picturesque Ruzizi Tented Lodge on the lake, and the semi-permanent Karenge Bushcamp that takes advantage of harder to get to places in the park, and enjoys stunning vistas of the country known as 1,000 hills. There will also be the Wilderness Safaris’ five-star Magashi Camp, set to open in May 2019.

"An eight-hour day in the park concluded without the sighting of another tourist. I did, though, see those necking giraffes, as well as plenty of snorting rhinos, brilliantly hued birds and lumbering elephants. Akagera is a success story in the making, particularly considering that, like its host country, it survived catastrophe." - Shannon Sims, New York Times

Liuwa Plain in western Zambia has one of the oldest conservation histories in Africa, dating back to the late 19th century when the King of Barotseland appointed his people as the custodians of the reserve. This park - one of Africa's best kept secrets - boasts the second largest wildebeest migration on the continent. Last year it was named one of the New York Times' “52 Places to Go”, and the gorgeous, high-end King Lewanika Lodge, operated by our partners Time+Tide, made TIME Magazine’s “100 Greatest Places,” and Travel and Leisure’s ‘It List’ in 2018.

"Two decades on, wildlife numbers are creeping back up: After the Mara-Serengeti ecosystem, Liuwa now hosts Africa’s second largest wildebeest migration; in November and December, some 26,000 of these animals move in long lines across the horizon. Following 15 years of work by the conservation agency African Parks, the only rattle comes from dramatic thunderstorms, which roll in like black ink blots across an empty sky." – Sophy Roberts, Condé Nast Traveler

Zakouma National Park

Zakouma is home to one of the most famous elephant herds in Africa – a population that was once plagued by poaching but since 2010 has been completely protected and the herd is on the rise for the first time in decades.

Situated just south of the Sahara Desert and above the fertile rainforest regions, the Greater Zakouma Ecosystem is well positioned as the primary safe haven for Central and West African wildlife. Zakouma is home to one of the most famous elephant herds in Africa – a population that was once plagued by poaching but since 2010 has been completely protected and the herd is on the rise for the first time in decades. This remarkable conservation recovery has captured imaginations the world over, featured by BBC News, The New York Times, the Robb Report, and The Telegraph. Accommodations include the exclusive Camp Nomade, which offers an extraordinary high-end semi-mobile tented camp experience, and the classic Tinga Camp, which is available for all budgets.

"I nervously gripped the seat as drafts of warm air tossed the tiny, dated vessel to and fro. But the scenery below was well worth the nerve-racking ride. We passed over an 850-strong herd of buffalo, smoky dust trailing in their wake, and sent a seemingly endless procession of crocodiles slithering into the murky Salamat River. In an adjacent wetland, several hundred pink pelicans took flight like cherry blossom petals in the wind, making me momentarily forget my nausea and angle for a better view. Ten minutes later, the elephants came into view." - Rachel Nuwer, New York Times